AIDS Drugs Surface On Black Market

AP

Published: December 25, 1995

HARTFORD, Dec. 24—
Police officers in Enfield, Conn., raided the home of a suspected drug dealer looking for crack, cocaine and cash. But instead they found AZT and Bactrim, two drugs used to fight AIDS.

While the practice of selling anti-AIDS drugs on the black market is not widespread, Frank Vilardi, of Hartford's Living Center, said some people have been known to sell the medications to make extra money.

A bottle of 100 AZT pills -- which lasts less than three weeks --- costs about $175 at a neighborhood pharmacy. But on the black market AZT costs about $50 for 100 capsules, said William P. Ward, the director of the drug control division of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.

One way black marketeers get the drugs is by going from pharmacy to pharmacy with a refillable prescription -- or even a forged prescription -- for AZT or any drug. After obtaining the medication, they might sell or exchange it for cocaine or heroin, health officials said.

Another way AZT makes its way to the street is when it is stolen while being transported from the drug company to the pharmaceutical wholesaler, said Ramona Jones, a spokeswoman for an AZT producer, Glaxo Wellcome.